THE LEAFLET

Photo by John Goucher.

We came across a reader question in a mainstay of local D.C. journalism – PoPville! The community-built list of the best park/garden/small forest in DC piqued our interest as a way to see the areas folks love to visit and because we’ve been a part of tree planting and protection efforts at many of the suggested locations. Would you add any? 

Remember that if you want to read all day in your yard, let us help you turn it into a small forest for free through our residential planting programs!

• “Dumbarton House, smaller than Dumbarton Oaks and has free wifi in the park!” 
• “Bishop’s garden at the cathedral.”
• “Meridian Hill Park/Malcolm x Park (multiple votes) or the monastery”
  • We’ve been a longtime supporter of the Franciscan’s Monastery’s efforts to reestablish their flourishing orchard and gardens. Read more about our efforts and award-winning fruit!
• “Crispus Attucks”
  • Did you know Crispus Attucks will remain forever green because it’s one of five conservation easements we hold? Read more about the importance of preserving green space (no matter how small!) in cities and our other conservation easements. 
• “Mitchell Park”
  • This is one of the many city parks we’ve surveyed as part of our Park Inventory program. Check out our map of tree species, health, and size in Mitchell Park (and every other park we’ve inventoried!).
• “Agree with the Franciscan Monastery. Also – the Arboretum. Maybe I shouldn’t share this as I’ve rarely seen anyone else there – but if you go down the trail to the Anacostia River & through the gate there is a picnic table, trees & so much peace & quiet.”
  • The U.S. National Arboretum is a true gem in the city. 446-acres dedicated exclusively to trees!
• “Is the garden behind Brewmaster’s Castle/Heurich House open these days?”
• “Rock Creek. It’s huge, so many options.”
  • Where to start with our preservation efforts in Rock Creek Park – we’re proud to be part of a robust partnership with the NPS folks.
• “Haupt Garden or the sculpture garden”
  • Cherry blossoms may get all the attention in DC, but there is magic in the air when the saucer magnolias bloom in the Haupt Garden. Our advocacy team and Certified Tree Advocates pushed for a tree canopy goal and additional trees in Bioretention areas.
• “Olmstead (sic) Woods, just across from the Bishop’s Garden at @WNCathedral!”
• “Lincoln Park!”
  • While inventorying trees with the Urban Forestry Division and updating our Tree Inventory Map we realized that as we discovered, identified, and measured the history of a particular park’s trees, we could also learn about the dynamic history of D.C.’s parks. Couple that with our love of maps and data and voila, we created a Park Storymaps for perennial Capitol Hill favorite Lincoln Park.
• “Kingman Island”
  • A Designated State Conservation Area, we’ve planted and programmed at Kingman and Heritage Islands quite a bit. They were the site of our pilot Wild and Well Forest Bathing classes!
• “Fort DuPont park.”
  • Did you know we planted our 2,000th tree at Fort DuPont in 2015? Seems like yesterday.
• “East of the River, in #Ward7, Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens @KenAqGardens or Oxon Run Park in #Ward8 @DCDPR”
  • We love taking our summer youth program Treewise to check out Kenilworth Gardens. We’re also thrilled to help the park bounce back from the destruction caused by the invasive pest Emerald Ash Borer.
• “I’ll put my vote in for the horse arena in rock creek park!”
• “Second Olmsted Woods. Also Bryce Park at the intersection of Wisconsin & Mass Aves.”